'We must not lambast him' - Haggas defends Fallon after luckless run on Maljoom

William Haggas was left wondering what might have been after hitting the proverbial woodwork with his two runners in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes.

Haggas saddled My Prospero to finish third, beaten a neck behind Coroebus, but it was stablemate Maljoom, a further neck away in fourth, who appeared to be the unlucky one, having fluffed the start and then meeting trouble in running as Cieren Fallon tried to find a clear path to the front along the inner.

"First and foremost I'm thrilled with the way they ran," said Haggas, brought back down to earth with a bit of a thud after Baaeed's procession in the Queen Anne Stakes.

"It was possibly an opportunity missed for the fourth horse. I'm very sorry for His Highness Sheikh Ahmed but the horse ran a fine race. It was just an Ascot race and he got a little bit too far back. He was slow away again. We think he's fine in the stalls, just the noise seems to put him off and that's ultimately cost him."

Coroebus clings on to victory in the St James's PalaceCredit: Alex Livesey (Getty Images)

Haggas chaperoned Fallon back to the weighing room but later described the young rider as being "devastated" having suffered a luckless run, but one synonymous with Ascot's round course.

"We were just a bit unfortunate," said Haggas. "Poor Cieren is devastated. He's a young man and a very good rider. He's just had a misfortune today and we must not lambast him. We should support him and I will be. His day will come and hopefully he will ride lots of Group winners in time."

In contrast, My Prospero enjoyed a trouble-free trip under Tom Marquand and was chiselling back the deficit to Coroebus and Lusail all the way to the line.

"I've said all along I think My Prospero is a mile-and-a-quarter horse and he nearly got away with it today," said Haggas. "We're sorry neither of them won but we're very keen to have another go at some stage. I would think that would be My Prospero's last race over a mile.

"I think we'll keep Maljoom at a mile. He looked very well today and is really starting to thrive. He's a nice-natured horse and he probably thinks he won so it doesn't really matter."

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